what where the principal weaknesses of US/south Vietnam strategy?

Answer 1

Wow.

Well, one could say the principal weakness was the US getting involved in an "unwinnable war" in the first place. Did it really make sense to support a regime that was corrupt, with the Vietnamese populace unwilling to fight for what they have?

One could also argue that the US was not prepared to be ruthless and unwilling to bomb major population centers to seriously break the will of the VC. One might even go so far as to say the press and their propoganda led to a US defeat. The Tet offensive was a major loss for the VC, yet the US press portrayed it as a defeat. Americans were sick and tired of war, and wanted out so they bought it and the US withdrew.

I personally have no clue, but it is an interesting question.

Answer 2

Hearts and minds, firstly. They were seen as foreign interferers who had absolutely no business there but were propping up the French colonial system.
Interesting that America gave arms to Ho Chi Mhin to fight the Japanese in WW2. Then the arms were used against America.
The US gave arms to the Taliban to fight the Russians in Afghanistan in the 1980s which were later used against Americans. Funny how it goes.
The US better hope it doesn't fall out with Israel or it'll really get the s**t kicked out of itself!

Answer 3

Use military force to resolve a political problem. Using military asset in to achieve political objectives. Lack of a determined strategy that's objective was the destruction of the enemy.

Answer 4

Mosty what was known as the "Veitnemesation" of the hamlets. They'd get them put together, up and running, and then leave them all alone with the VC all around them in the jungle,,and once the GI's were gone, and the ARVN troops had jammed back to Saigon, and the VC knew they weren't coming back soon, they'd give the little Hamlet Chief a choice usually; he could either keep doing what he's been doing for the Yanks, and the ARVN's, or they could shoot him right then and there in front of all the other villagers, and often did anyway; just so there was NO misunderstanding about who was REALLY in charge out there,, Sometimes as close as 15 to 20 miles outstide of downtown Saigon. They Knew the Americans weren't coming back to help them, they had already supposedly taght them everything they needed to know to deal with it on there own (VEITNAMESATION), but, just like today in Iraq, in Nam we didn't hold our ground once we took it. Every heard of "Hamburger Hill"? If not, google it; it'll make you think we're fighting the "Dinks" all over again the way we do things. Anyway..I'm spelling that word wrong, and I can't figure it out for you..google that too. Bottom line is man; that the "DInks" had been at war since the Japanese invaded Viet Nam in 1941, and after we ran the Nips out of southeast asia, the sneaking, lurking, French came back and set up shop in Viet Nam again; like nothing ever happened there,,,(We did the same in the Phillipines), but by the late 1960's, we had our hand full over there. If this is fror school, then tell them what they WANT to hear; but the truth is; the zipperheads had it rough, real rough, for almost 30 years and here we come, missing our new color TV's and our Creedence Clearwater Revival Records, and I speak for myself; but everybody I knew was pretty well "Zipped" Most of the time over there, AND, we used to NOT go out. We organized ourselves in the sawgrass and would just lay down. and squat there for the day; if the LT or 2nd LT had a problem with that; which ours didn't, he wanted to live too, but there were alot of officers "Fragged" in and around the areas I used to try to avoid; but would go into Saigon for the Funzies! Then split, and go back into the bush and lay down somewhere and wait for it to end, before it ended us.. Not that we were cowards man,,, there were cowards there; I saw them.. but we could have all been considered "Cowards" for not having the "Will" that the dinks had to get us out of thier back yard..
In conclusion; I would say the knowledge that the Amercan Green Beret ,and other "Advisors" or "Training Personal" , weren't being replaced when they left country, spurred the dinks on and made them sure; and rightly so, that it was almost over and the people in the country and villiages damn well knew it too, and that's one hopeless situation for anybody that, at that time, didn't live in Saigon with all the Yanks,,or, knew that they were shipping out with the yanks when they finally "Bugged Out" as it's known then! How good of a trained killer do you think YOU'D be if one day you were hanging out on the Boardwalk with your girlfriend in Santa Cruz,,CA,, cruising 1st st every weekend in your '64 Pontaic Le Mans,,having the time of your life, and the very next week your up in Washington State in boot camp in the Army heading for some place you could care f**k about, to fight back a hoard of highly skilled fighters, on thier own turf, that had 30 years of experience ahead of you?? Some trained Killers. Anybody will tell you IF they tell the truth, that the Dinks weren't going to quit until every one of them were dead, or everyone of us were off thier lands. And away from what they wanted to do there. How the hell did I go here tonight?? What kind of question IS that man???? What the F**K are you wanting to hear???? That some political decision left almost 60,000, of US deader than hell. That this country would indeed send in young teenagers that weren't even shaving many instances to fight a determined and totally committed foe. What the hell?? The dinks were too much, they would not go away, and even when bombed to the stoneage by the B-52's would come out of thier hiding holes, and go about cleaning up the place and getting on with thier little part in the war.. Go fight those guys and come back and YOU tell me "What the principal weaknesses of the "STRATEGY" in Nam was.. I personally didn't see any "Strategy". I had a "Strategy" to not get killed, for 376 days; but naa,,other than that, no stategy was more in demand than that one my friend.. Components during Vietnam War
An FSB was built mainly as a permanent encampment, though many were dismantled when the units that they supported moved. Their main components varied by size: small bases usually had six 105 millimeter howitzers, a platoon of engineers permanently on station, a Landing Zone (LZ), a Tactical Operations Center (TOC), an aid station staffed with medics, a communications bunker, and a battalion of infantry. Large FSBs would also have a medium artillery position (155 mm), a piece of self-propelled artillery, and an infantry division[citation needed].